Lew-Port's Dreher named New York State Teacher of the Year

by jmaloni

Fri, Sep 20th 2013 09:35 pm

The New York State Board of Regents
announced Sept. 17 that Ashli Skura Dreher, a high school special education
teacher at the Lewiston-Porter Central School District who lives on Grand
Island, has been named the 2014 New York State Teacher of the Year.

Dreher was presented with a certificate of
recognition by Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch and Education Commissioner
John B. King Jr. Dreher was also presented with the Thomas Sobol Award and the
David Johnson Award, both created as annual gifts for recipients of the Teacher
of the Year award.

Dreher, the 44th New York State Teacher of
the Year, has been teaching in the Lewiston-Porter Central School District for
15 years and is the first teacher in the district to earn National Board
Certification for Professional Teaching Standards, one of teaching's highest
honors. She currently teaches special education in an 8:1:1 high school classroom
working with students with moderate intellectual disabilities and developmental
disabilities.

"Ashli is truly a model of teaching
excellence; she is the kind of teacher principals want to lead a class and
parents want to teach their children," King said. "What I find most impressive
about Ashli is her drive to continuously improve her practice. She has achieved
the gold standard of teaching, National Board Certification, and is now doing
dissertation-level doctoral work. Ashli's students, of course, are the ones who
benefit most from her tireless dedication to honing her craft - they are
fortunate to have such an extraordinary teacher."

"New York's teachers are among the best
and most professional in the nation. Still, Ashli manages to stand out," said
NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi. "In her classroom, students with special
needs receive a mix of research-based instruction and innovative lessons. Her
focus on community and volunteerism, and her close collaboration with parents,
make her a sterling example of what happens when great teachers and concerned
parents work together on behalf of our children. I join every member of NYSUT
in congratulating her."

"Ashli has developed a most unique
learning experience for her students," Lewiston-Porter High School Principal
Paul Casseri said. "Certainly the learning in her class is focused on life
skills and workplace experiences, but at the same time a strong emphasis is
placed on academic rigor and literacy development."

Dreher is currently a dissertation level
doctoral student in the Teaching and Curriculum Department of the University of
Rochester's Margaret Warner School of Education and Human Development, where
she enjoys researching literacy, specifically the best instructional practices
for teaching reading to students with moderate intellectual disabilities.

Dreher also served as the NYSUT Education
and Learning Trust regional coordinator for the Western New York and Rochester
areas for 10 years to promote turnkey training and professional development for
teachers and aspiring teachers, and she continues to serve as an instructor in
the program teaching undergraduate courses for Ulster County Community College.

The State Teacher of the Year Program is sponsored by the
New York State United Teachers; the United Federation of Teachers; the New York
State Parents and Teachers Association; the New York State Association School
Curriculum Development; the New York State School Board Association; the School
Administrators Association of NYS; the New York State Association of Teacher
Educators; the New York Association of Colleges for Teacher Education; ING
Financial Services, Inc.; the Smarter Kids Foundation; SMART Technologies; and
the Council of Chief State School Officers. The program is run in conjunction
with the National Teacher of the Year Program, sponsored by CCSSO.